


Ice Cream

by Ethereal_Blade



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:15:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21687424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ethereal_Blade/pseuds/Ethereal_Blade
Summary: (Loosely based off of Kasumi's Level ??? Confidant) Ren and Kasumi have a heart-to-heart atop Shujin's roof. WARNING: THIS WORK CONTAINS HEAVY SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 5 ROYAL. READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Yoshizawa Kasumi, Persona 5 Protagonist/Yoshizawa Kasumi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 96





	Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

> Before we begin, I'd like to extend a big thank you to Youtube channel juicedup14's P5R translations (particularly for translating Kasumi's social links). Without them, this work would not have been possible.  
> Also, as a disclaimer for those who decide to read this after P5R is released in the West, this story was inspired by the Japanese version of the game; though I don't think the translation team would stray too far from the original, there is always a chance things may play out differently.

Ren found her in her usual place – staring idly through the window of her favourite bakery, seemingly lost in her own world. Her reverie, however, was short lived, and as he neared the store, Sumire quickly turned around to face him. She smiled. “Hi there!”

Ren scratched the back of his head. “My presence isn’t that recognizable, is it?”

“No, but I did see your reflection in the window,” Sumire giggled, “I’m glad you could make it Senpai.”

Ren nodded with a soft hum. She appeared to be doing all right, considering all that had happened to her recently. However, the trickster was able to see through her cheerful facade; he noticed that her eyes told a different story. “How are you feeling?” he asked tentatively.

Sumire quickly broke eye contact. She suddenly felt very small, and her shoulders stiffened slightly. “W-well, to tell you the truth, i-it’s… I—I called you here because I needed to discuss some things with you. Would you please accompany me to the school rooftop?”

“Of course.”

The trip to Shujin was a rather tricky one. Following Sumire’s recent change in hairstyle, Ren quickly discovered that her hair’s scarlet hue was the only way for him to separate her from the sea of people around them. It was almost a viable option; the only obstacle in his plan was her short stature. If he wasn’t careful, he could easily lose sight of her. To remedy the problem, he decided to reach out and take her hand in his, squeezing gently to let her know it was him. Sumire gazed up at him, confusion etched into her face and a slight tinge of pink dusting her cheeks.

“So we don’t lose each other,” Ren said brusquely, picking up the pace as he spoke. Sumire nodded mutely.

* * *

Shujin’s rooftop was a sharp contrast to the busy streets of Kichijoji. The quiet whistle of the winter wind and the rustle of dead leaves were the only sounds keeping the place from being engulfed in total silence.  
  
“Are you all right, Sumire?” Ren asked gently. “You’ve been quiet for a while now.”  
  
Sumire turned and looked up, smiling bashfully. “I...I was just gathering my thoughts. It’s funny; I spent a lot of time practicing for this, but now that you’re here, I’m not quite sure how to start.”  
  
“It’s all right. I’ll be here to listen for as long as you need.”  
  
Sumire nodded, took a deep breath, and frowned. Abruptly, she loosed her hand from Ren’s and turned to face him. She then clasped her hands together and bowed as she had done many times before. “Ren-Senpai, I-I...I’m truly sorry!”  
  
Ren was taken aback. “What?”

“I misled you and the others into thinking that I was someone I could never be. To be honest with you, the people around me probably noticed my strange behaviour after her death; I guess they were just afraid to bring it up. I met Maruki-sensei and became Kasumi shortly after, but I knew deep down that I could never be her. That subconscious feeling was probably erased from my cognition along with my memories of being Sumire, but recently…it's started to come back. I remember that Kasumi was always the one who led. I was content just to follow…but now that she’s gone, I just…I just don’t know what to do. I’ve realized that I’m just…not capable. Remember what happened last year, right before I accidentally entered the Palace? It made sense that I didn’t perform as well at that competition; I wasn’t Kasumi. Despite all Maruki-sensei did for me, he wasn’t able to change my abilities. Deep down, I was still Sumire Yoshizawa, even if I didn’t want to admit it.”

Ren remained quiet, nodding here and there to let her know that he was listening. 

Sumire’s gaze drifted to her feet. “That…isn’t even the half of it though. I…I lied to you, Senpai. I got you to believe I was someone totally different from who I really was. I tried to help you during our training sessions, but I feel that a large part of me did it to show off. It was foolish of me, and very self-centered. I’m sorry!”

Ren’s eyes softened. “Sumire, there’s no need to put the blame all on yourself. After what Maruki did to you, there was almost no way for you to uncover the truth without our interference. As for your training sessions, you were simply doing what you thought Kasumi would do. You didn’t intentionally deceive me.”

Sumire sank into a nearby chair, her gaze failing to meet his. “I…I know. But it doesn’t really make me feel any better.”

“Dwelling on decisions that you can’t reverse don’t either,” Ren chided gently as he brought another chair to sit down beside her. Sumire bit her lip.

“I…you’re right. I-I’m sorry. I lost my composure.” Shyly, she turned to glance up at him. “…Ever since I reawakened to my Persona and accepted who I truly was, my memories have been coming back to me little by little. I’d…like to talk to you about….about my sister. You’ve spent so much time with the girl who’s pretended to be her; it’s only fair that you get to know the real Kasumi.”

“…Are you sure? I’d imagine that talking about her brings up some things you’d want to forget,” Ren said cautiously. His concern for her did not go unnoticed; he could see the corners of her lips pull upward, if only slightly.

“It’s all right Senpai. I promised myself that I wouldn’t run away anymore.”

* * *

“Kasumi started taking gymnastics back when we were just kids. Though she started first, I -- like any second sibling -- was quick to follow; eventually, I even started going to the same class as her. We were…quite young at the time. To be honest, I didn’t even know about the rules back then, but it didn’t really matter to me. All I knew was that if I did well, our coach would treat us to ice cream. It was good motivation,” she giggled, “because we both worked extra hard to learn as many new techniques as we could, all for a bit of our favourite ice cream.”

Ren hummed in approval. “I can’t say I’d disagree. It’s hard not to try when a reward like that is involved. Must’ve been fun for you two.” Sumire nodded.

“We became quite close after that. Every day we would get up, practice, go to school, practice and then have ice cream with our coach. It was tiring…but it was fun too. Then one day, before our first real competition, Kasumi came to me and said, ‘If we win this, won’t we be able to eat as much ice cream as we’d like?’ I thought she was joking at first, but she said it so convincingly that I believed her. I told her ‘Kasumi, that’s a genius idea!’ You know, if she told me that now, I think I still would have thought it was a good reward,” she laughed, but after a moment, she went quiet. Ren quickly noticed that her hands were nervously fidgeting with her skirt. Her lips were pursed, and her eyes had drifted back down to her shoes.

“…Time passed though, and every day the gap in our abilities grew bigger. Kasumi was much quicker when it came to mastering techniques, and she was also able to perform well in front of an audience. Her confident attitude, combined with her technical skill, was what allowed her to flourish in the competitive scene. But…I...was the complete opposite. I wasn’t as quick to learn all the different concepts and techniques, and I was quite shy. During competitions, my nerves would get to me, and I would perform worse than I had in my practices. That had an effect on my overall rank, and though it wasn’t the worst, it was nowhere near Kasumi’s placing; it wasn’t long before people began referring to me as just ‘Kasumi’s sister’ rather than Sumire.”

Ren placed his hand on her shoulder, silently letting her know that it was okay to not tell him if it hurt her. Sumire smiled, but shook her head. She had to do this.

“Kasumi was always the one up on the podium to receive a medal; I was only able to secure a place in the top ten. But she would never go without me to get ice cream with our coach. She’d always come up to me after the competition and tell me ‘I’ll wait until we can eat it together. Ice cream never tastes as good when you’re alone.’ She wasn’t saying it in a condescending way either, because every night, even though she had to practice for her own performances, she would spend hours helping me. She was strong and kind, the sister that everyone wishes they had.” The girl paused for a moment, turning her head away in shame. “…That…that irritated me.”

“Sumire…”

“I didn’t have any reason to hate her! If she was a snob about her results, then maybe I would feel better about disliking her. But she wasn’t! She was the perfect sister. I didn’t have any right to be upset, and yet…I still felt it bubbling inside of me. Kasumi was the one who received all the praise and attention. She was the one the press was so eager to interview, the one they always lined up to snap pictures of. And I…I had to sit and watch. All because I didn’t have the talent she had. I tried just as hard as she did, so why didn’t our results line up?!”

Ren stayed silent, but his hand remained on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Sumire’s eyes snapped shut; she could feel the moisture building behind her eyelids.

“I knew I was being selfish…but I couldn’t help feeling the way I did. I kept…kept thinking to myself. …Would it matter? Would it matter if I died? My sister was the only one the world cared about after all. But on that day, the day _I_ should have died, Kasumi…She died…protecting…protecting my worthless self!! And I…I…”

By this time, Sumire was actively fighting back the tears. She half-expected Ren to say something, anything to help her feel better. It was something he was good at, according to his friends. To her dismay, the hand on her shoulder lifted off of her; she couldn’t feel his presence next to her either. Sumire opened her eyes in confusion to find him standing in front of her. The look on his eyes was indiscernible, but what he did next shocked her. Ren knelt down and hesitantly enveloped her in a tight embrace. This gesture caught her completely off guard, instantly breaking her resolve not to cry. Sumire's entire body shook as the floodgates burst open. She cried for Kasumi, and the life that her sister could never have. She cried for the memories they created together, memories that now caused her pain, rather than joy. She hadn’t known how selfish she was back then; it only took her sister’s life for her to realize that. Ren remained as silent as ever, instead opting to pull her closer to him.

The pair stayed like that for a while, until Ren noticed that her breathing had evened out. His hand stopped rubbing her back, but he maintained his gentle grip on her. Sumire’s head rested comfortably in the crook of his neck; her tears had stopped, but she wasn’t ready to leave the warmth of his embrace just yet.

Sumire nuzzled him lightly.“Ren?” She mumbled blearily.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you…”

Ren leaned down and pressed a light kiss to her forehead. “Anytime.”

* * *

“And the winner of today’s competition….please give a big round of applause for our first-place finisher, Sumire Yoshizawa!!”

The crowd erupted into cheers as the competition organizer awarded Sumire with her first gold medal. The whole ceremony was...unusual for her, to say the least. It was funny; the girl who had yearned for so long to be up on the podium now found it almost unbearable. The cheers and applause rang loudly in her ears, but she was able to manage a smile and bow for her audience. Sumire took a moment to scan the crowd, her eyes searching diligently for a spectacled young man with a cat poking out of his bag.  
  
“Sumi!!”  
  
It took her a few seconds to locate him, but soon enough, she caught sight of Ren. He was towards the left of the auditorium, seated close to the aisle. He was smiling at her, and in his hand was a cone of ice cream large enough for the two of them to share. Her eyes shone with mirth and affection. _Oh Ren...at the rate this ceremony is going, I'm not sure I'll be able to make it!_ She watched him stare blankly at the ice cream that had already begun to melt, trying her best to contain her laughter. Ren's gaze turned back to her, then to the ice cream, and then back to her. He shrugged sheepishly.

Sumire grinned. Though this victory was just one small step toward her goal, she knew that as long as he was by her side, she would find the strength to carry on—regardless of whether ice cream was involved or not.


End file.
